Halogenated organic compounds, which are organic compounds, such as CFCs and trichloroethylene, containing fluorine, chlorine, or bromine, find wide use as solvents, refrigerants, and fire extinguishing agents, and are employed in large quantities. Therefore, they are of importance in the industry. However, these compounds are volatile, and many of the halogenated organic compounds used in the industry are emitted to the environment such as the atmosphere, water, or soil. It has been pointed out that such emissions destroy the stratospheric ozone layer and generate carcinogenic substances, thus seriously affecting the environment.
Where used, halogenated organic compounds should be disposed of, no appropriate method of decomposing them is currently available because their reactivity is extremely low.
The decomposition techniques which have been heretofore reported are mainly combustion techniques at high temperatures. One example of decomposition of hazardous organic wastes using such techniques is described in an article entitled "Laboratory Investigation of Thermal Degradation of a Mixture of Hazardous Organic Compounds" by John L. Graham, Douglas L. Hall, and Barry Dellinger, in Environ. Sci. Technol., Vol. 20, No. 7, 1986, pp. 703-710. In this method, however, the energy efficiency is extremely low, because halogenated organic compounds are burned together with a large amount of fuel, such as hydrocarbon. Further, the whole apparatus cannot be made in small size, since the fuel tank and the incinerator are large. In addition, free halogens produced by combustion come into contact with the wall of the incinerator that is at high temperatures to thereby attack the incinerator. This phenomenon is especially conspicuous where organic fluorine compounds are burned.